Ice Dreams
by EternalLove
Summary: Kikyo's bad fall means a world of trouble for aspiring ice skater Sesshoumaru. Having Kagome as his replacement partner is killing him and the world championships are only six months away. What's it going to take to get the girl to skate right?
1. Chapter 1

Ice Dreams

Chapter 1

* * *

It happened in slow motion. She was completing her triple lutz and he saw her fall before it actually happened. Her posture wasn't straight and her ankle was in the wrong position just before she landed. Idiot, he thought as he raced over to where she was. There was a large crack as she collapsed on her ankle and the wails of pain began. But she wasn't sobbing for her fall. Her dry-eyed cries were for the dreams that slipped through her fingers and onto the numbing ice of the rink. Damn it, he would have to get a new partner….

* * *

"So who's my new partner going to be?" He asked smoothly as he sat back in the leather chairs of Miroku's office. The gentle sigh of the material was eaten up by the tense silence that hung in the ostensibly decorated room. Giant trophies and sparkling medals bedecked almost every inch of the walls while flamboyant posters showed glossy pictures of several famous skaters.

The coach gave an exasperated sigh and twirled his chair around to look out at his ice rink, the apple of his eye and one of the most prestigious figure skating buildings in the Eastern world. Not one of his skaters had ever faltered below 5th place in a championship and over 50 had received gold and silver metals in competitions. Such status, such prominence… and the greatest pair skaters from his rink since Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo were reduced to a single as of yesterday afternoon. Miroku gave a faked sob and peered out from the corner of his eye to gauge his number one skater's expression.

"You're not going to even ask about your partner's critical condition?" Miroku exclaimed as he twirled his chair back to face him.

"She tore her Achilles' tendon and several ligaments in her knee. She won't be skating in the world championships. Now, who will be my new partner?" He asked again with a hint of impatience in his voice.

"We're still trying to pick someone suitable, but at the moment, we have a girl in mind." Miroku said as he leaned forward. "And try to be nice to this one, we don't have a year to waste in you finally forming some semblance of acknowledgement towards your partner."

"So? I want someone good, I'm not wasting my time for some up and coming junior high skater." He sneered. "Like that child you tried to pair with me two years ago."

"She was only a few years younger than you!" Miroku shouted in annoyance. "And she was cute! Judges always fall for the cute ones!"

"Enough of your pedophile obsessions, who is it?" He demanded.

"Higurashi Kagome." Miroku said in a tired tone as he leaned back in his executive chair. Why was his best skater also the most arrogant one? Or to be more specific, why did he put up with him? Ah yes, that's right, because Taiyoukai Sesshoumaru was the most talented skater he had ever seen in the ten years he had been at the rink.

"Kikyou's sister? I've seen her skate, she doesn't have an ounce of talent in her! Pick someone else or I'm not skating at all!" Sesshoumaru growled as he angrily stood up. "My career is not going to fall because of some immature little girl who can't even do a proper crossover."

"Sesshoumaru, for kami's sake, just sit down and listen to me for a second. I heard from some reliable sources that Kagome might even be a better skater than Kikyou, she just doesn't…erm…do too well in front of a crowd."

"A reliable source? Don't tell me you were spying on her." He said with disgust. Miroku gave a tiny flinch and only crossed his legs in a business like manner.

"As I was saying, I think you should give it a try. Kagome might just be your ticket to being the reigning world pair figure skating champions."

"Fine, I'll give it one week."

"One month, and NO buts about it. The competition is in 6 months." Miroku said with a warning voice.

With a whip of his long silver hair, Sesshoumaru elegantly marched out of the office. The door gave an earth shattering slam and Miroku jumped up to prevent the fall of one of his precious trophies.

"I give it one day." Miroku said with a shake of his head as he caressed the gleaming object in his arms.

* * *

"I can't do this, I really really really can't." Kagome complained as she walked back and forth in the hospital room. "And this is YOUR dream, not mine! All I want to do is quietly skate by myself with no ugly cameras practically poking at me in the face!" She threw her hands up and finally took a seat in a chair next to the bed. But her legs moved up and down in barely contained fright. Her sister reached out and took Kagome's hand into her own, giving it an encouraging squeeze.

"It is my dream, but I won't be able to live it anymore. You have to do it for me. I don't want some inexperienced girl taking away the world championship title. If it's not me, than I would much rather have it be you."

"Kikyou! You're supposed to be mad! You're supposed to ignore me for taking your place!" Kagome yelled as she jumped back up and began her agitated pacing once more.

"Maybe I was at first, but this could be your chance Kagome! You've always been a better skater than me. Please?" Kikyou turned her deep brown eyes at the azure of her younger sister's.

"No, come on, not that look!" Kagome grimaced but her sister only continued to stare at her with tearing eyes. "Alright! I'll do it! But don't blame me if I fall in front of thousands of people."

Kikyou gave a triumphant smile. "Millions, it's a world wide televised broadcasting."

Kagome gave a groan and sat back in the chair, covering her face with her hands. "Thanks for making me feel better."

"Always."

Looking up at the blank ceiling, a tight feeling of apprehension began to knot in her stomach. Sesshoumaru had sometimes come to her house to skate with Kikyou on the pond nearby. He was tall, refined, and handsome; traits that intimidated Kagome. Her sister had never spoken ill of her partner but in all forms of arts that requires two people, a bond of love had to form in order to make a pair a step above others. And just looking at those lifeless amber eyes hinted that falling in love was out of the question…

* * *

He tightly cross laced his skates and then double knotted before stuffing the remainder into the already interwoven laces. Standing up, he leisurely walked towards the rink then stepped onto the ice and he was home. Pumping his legs up and down, his feet began to move faster and faster till he was in a quick sprint. Then a change of position and he was doing a crossover all around the rink. The biting cold wind played with his hair, teasing it out of the loose braid he had put it into. He slowed down when he heard the entrance doors bang close.

A young girl walked towards the small bench holding his things and fearfully looked across the ice. She was of the usual petite build that most female skaters were and her long black hair was pinned up in a severe bun. Her slow walk emphasized how averse she was to be here and ungracefully, she shuffled towards the bench. His eyes were caught by hers and for a brief moment he was trapped in ocean blue depths that trembled in innocence. He shook his head and went back to his warm up, deliberately doing a perfect axel to daunt her. When he completed the move he looked over to see her face but only found the girl hunched over, tying on her own pair of skates. But she didn't go on the ice after she was done and only patiently waited right by the small entrance gate.

"Kagome!" Miroku was in his usual thick sweatshirt and dark trainer pants. He reached over to hug her but with a shake of her head Kagome warily stepped back from his wandering hands. He gave a cheery grin and then motioned her to go on the ice. Biting her lip, she reluctantly obeyed and stood on the ice.

A minute passed of her simply standing, and then she began to smoothly glide forth. She skated back and forth across the rink while putting on a pair of gloves to keep her fingers warm. And even then, she wasn't trying out any moves, just monotonously skating back and forth. Sesshoumaru shot a glare towards Miroku but he was strangely concentrating on the girl. With a scowl, he started rehearsing the program for the competition. What the hell is coach was thinking was beyond him. All he knew was that his new partner didn't have the qualities of a good skater, or even a passable one.

She sincerely tried to do the routine, she really did. Her body had already memorized it by heart after watching Kikyou run the routine by her daily at home. But out here, in a foreign place with strange hands lifting her from the stability of the earth, it was too much. When Sesshoumaru's hands would clamp on her waist to throw her up into a triple lutz, she flinched and the lutz always came out unconfident and sloppy. Miroku didn't complain but she never failed to feel a sense of disappointment and disparagement from her partner. He never smiled at her in support or even talked to her. What words he traded were orders, like move faster or smoother.

She tried to lose herself in the music, forgetting the faces that latched onto her in the rink. She closed her own eyes and thought of the ice pond back at home, the security and the opening feeling of being alone. But pair figure skating always called for intimate touches between the partners and that feeling of being alone was quickly swept away by unwanted hands.

Then things plummeted to a new low when he stopped showing up for practice. Disapprovingly, Miroku would call Sesshoumaru every day but the skater never answered the phone and after two weeks, the coach gave up. Taking up his own skates, Miroku tried to run Kagome through the routine himself, but even that was dreadful. The coach's wandering hands were intolerable and more than not, Kagome was forced to slap him on the cheek for his advances. It was now a few days before a month would be over and Kagome's practices never improved. And he still didn't show up…

* * *

She glanced around and then tip toed in. Miroku had already given her the keys to the doors in case she wanted to practice when nobody was around but this was the first time she had taken liberty of them. Digging out the flashlight in her sweatshirt she aimed the light towards the walls till she spotted the row of switches that turned the lights on. She flicked them all up and light poured throughout the immense room. Hesitating, she turned a few of the switches off till only a few spotlighted the rink, giving it a more intimate look. Dumping her duffel bag on the floor, she slipped off her sweatshirt and sweatpants into her usual attire of a pale leotard and an ash blue skirt. After turning the music on she quickly skated out into the middle of the rink and took her position. And the dance began.

He saw a faint glimmer of lights in the building and curiously turned the icy handle of the door. It submissively opened and music poured out and washed over him. It was the melody from their routine. He crept closer to see who was at the rink so early in the morning and was surprised to see his partner there. But it couldn't be her, was it Kikyou? He moved closer to see, slowly becoming entranced by the skater's perfect movements. She skated as if every emotion within her would tear her apart if it wasn't unleashed. Every sensation was cascaded into the spins and turns of the dance. Love, hate, fear, and sadness was etched in the flowing rhythm of her body and he felt his breath slow as he got sucked into the dance itself. She skated near him and he caught a flash of her face. It was Kagome but she didn't notice him. She was in another place, that infinite heaven that briefly elevates a soul into pure beauty.

She surpassed him. She had risen from being far below him and his attention to completely capturing his eyes and being in a level he could only hope to attain. He kept his gaze on her when she finished. She wasn't even breathing heavily from the exertion of the dance and when she lifted her head, he was surprised a second time to see tears streaked on her pale cheeks. She glanced off to the side and gave a small gasp to see him there. She surreptitiously swiped the tears on her face before giving a hard look at him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked accusingly as she skated over. "Do you always sneak up on everybody?"

She went to her bench and began to furiously pull her skates off but he found his hand stopping her.

"Wait." He said softly and sat down next to her. He pulled out his own skates and swiftly put them on. Standing up, he held out a hand to her and she stared at it with cautious eyes.

"I thought the reason you stopped coming to practice was that you thought I was horrible at skating." She said.

"I did."

She winced at his words. "So after watching me skate once, you decide that I'm good enough to finally be in your presence? Why should I skate with you now? I already intend to hand in my resignation to Miroku today. I couldn't skate in front of a crowd before, but now I know it will be even more impossible with a cold partner with you. You didn't help me, you didn't give me a chance, you didn't even try talking to me!"

She slapped his hand away and returned to taking off her skates. After flinging them into her duffle bag, she angrily grabbed her clothes and stomped away. He looked down at his hand in wonder, she had refused him…

* * *

"I'm resigning." Kagome said as she plopped down into the chair in front of Miroku's desk. "I can't take another second of that arrogant man looking at me like I'm completely worthless. And besides, I can't skate in front of crowds, I've got stage fright." She started to get up but Miroku motioned her down his hands.

"Alright, I can see your point. But, you've got potential Kagome, incredible potential. And I can guarantee you and Sesshoumaru spots in international ice skating championships. Do you know how far you could go?" Miroku pleaded with her. "And Sesshoumaru looks at everybody that way, even me. I think it would be too harsh of you to just give up on him right now, especially when you've come so far."

"You call doing the practices by myself far?" She said flatly.

"Eh….ok, maybe you got a point there. But have you even tried to see him skate? Really skate? Pair skating calls for a balance of passion and skill. I think half the reason why Sesshoumaru and Kikyo were able to somewhat skate together was because of how patient she is."

Kagome gave a wince. That's right, she promised her sister she'd fulfill her dream. But it was not only unfair, but arrogant of Sesshoumaru to immediately think that she was an incompetent skater after only seeing her skate a few times. He didn't take the time to understand her stage fright or to even spare a word of acknowledgment. She felt herself seething at the mere thought of his coldness. Miroku, spotting the angry glint in her eyes, quickly brought up his last resort.

"Alright, maybe a change of settings will do you two good. I have a cabin up north with an immense ice pond and several natural hot springs. We'll go there to practice and to improve our health at the same time. What do you say? I heard Kikyou telling me that you love hot springs."

What a way for Miroku to hit her in her weak point. She was a hot spring fanatic and would give her soul to have her own natural hot spring. She pulled at her fingers, bit her lip, and fidgeted in her seat. What weighed more, her dislike for Sesshoumaru or her love for hot springs?

"We'll spend the weekend there and of course, everything will be taken care of. Your transportation, food, housing, etc."

"Well, I guess-"

Miroku grabbed her hand and pumped it up and down in the American way of sealing a contract. With a grin that could possibly outshine the sun, he ushered her out of his office and immediately launched his plan: Get The World Championship Cup. It took a great deal of energy and time to do what he did, and if cunning was the way to get those two skaters together, he would just have to soil his hands and play bad.

* * *

Author's Notes: ARGH! Yes! I do know that I have more stories to finish than I can count on two hands! But this is just a way for me to vent my writing frustrations and I suspect that this story will be short and I have no idea when it will be finished. But if you enjoyed it, hey, that's great. If not, uh, then I don't know. Oh, and this is not from the new movie ice queen or ice princess or whatever its called. I started this chapter about a year ago. And don't worry, this story is NOT going to take away writing time and inspiration from my other stories and I DO intend to finish all my stories, at least eventually before I die (wink wink). sprints away from angry fans 


	2. Chapter 2

Ice Dreams

Chapter 2

* * *

She had loved skating for as long as she could remember. It started as a distraction, but that quickly changed into her sole reason for happiness. To her, when she was skating alone on her pond, it felt like the world was just her own. There was no sadness, no pain, and above all, no heartache to deter her of happiness. Alone, she could defy gravity and fly in the stars. It was a world that nobody invaded, not even her older twin Kikyo could come into this world. And that world would be hers for the rest of her life. She wouldn't let anybody in, she _couldn't_ let anybody in.

* * *

Kikyo blew on her steaming tea before taking a tentative sip. With a sigh of content, she leaned back against her pillow and stared at her old skating partner. Usually, he held a permanent look of disgust and arrogance in those beautifully cold amber eyes. However, today, they were pensive and deep. Whatever held his mind in such consternation had to be significant, because Taiyoukai Sesshoumaru was fazed by almost nothing in the world. A smile quirked her cheek as a relatively good idea of what was putting him into such deep thought came upon her. She set her tea cup gently onto its matching plate and carefully held it in her lap. The sudden clink of dishes made him lift his head to meet her eyes.

"It's her, isn't it?" Kikyo asked quietly. She hid her smile when she saw an uncharacteristic frown on his face. His delicate features were unused to such a human reaction and the frown made his disquiet even more obvious. She calmly picked up her tea and took another sip. "You saw her skate, really skate?"

"How did you-" He started and immediately cut the sentence off. Kikyo almost laughed out loud at the man's embarrassment of being read. Whatever her younger twin was doing had to be good because this was the first time Kikyo had been able to read Sesshoumaru and not the other way around.

"She loved skating before I did and she loves it farther than I ever will. To her, it was a way to escape the sadness after father's absence. Skating became a world separating everybody else, even me. And I couldn't blame her for trying to find solace in loneliness." Kikyo said with a touch of melancholy. "It's why she doesn't trust people she hasn't known for years."

"And just how does this attribute to her," he clenched his teeth. "skating."

Kikyo gave a patient smile and took one last sip of tea to tease him even further. Sesshoumaru got the message and regained his composure.

"She believes completely in herself when she's on the ice. She holds no doubts or fears, and that is why her skating is amazing."

"I do not understand why she cannot do the same when there are other people around." He said through gritted teeth. What a fool she had made of him that night! His pride as a skater had been shattered by that girl.

Kikyo gave a sigh and shook her head. Why Kagome only skated for herself was something she had no right to tell. Either Sesshoumaru had to force it out of Kagome or Kagome would come to trust him and tell him herself.

"I know you're angry that she's a better skater than you are."

"Bah!" He said before shutting his mouth for the rest of his visit.

The wench was right when she said that he was angry because Kagome was a better skater. He _was_ angry, extremely angry. Even if he trained to be at his peak, Sesshoumaru would never be able to reach where she was. She skated like if she didn't skate, something within her would die. There were no boundaries in her skating when he saw her that night. To be able to skate with absolute trust in one's self is a goal many skater's seek out. But it's difficult to brush away fear and self doubt when you're unleashing your soul on something as precarious as ice. The dangers of tearing vital muscles, breaking a neck or spine, or even committing the feared tragedy of falling are all elements of skating that it's dancers fear. In Kagome, he saw the pure soul of an ice skater. A soul that had nothing to fear and all to give. And that he was unable to do the same was what angered him even more.

* * *

Before Sesshoumaru could step in the limo, Miroku pulled him off to the side for a quiet chat.

"What is it?" Sesshoumaru growled. It was stupid enough that he was forced on this pointless trip, but that he had to spend it with her? Something inside murmured that he wanted to see her skate again, just like that night, but he squashed that voice down with annoyance.

"I know that Kagome appears to be a far from adequate skater, but can you at least _try_ to skate with her? She doesn't lack talent, Sesshoumaru, she's far from that. She just needs a little help in tackling her stage fright." Miroku pleaded.

Without waiting for a reply, he ushered Sesshoumaru into the car and closed the door. Both skaters gave confused looks towards their manager as the car immediately jumped forward. Miroku gave a snigger as he headed back towards the warmth of his office.

"Wait a second! I thought this was a supervised trip!" Kagome exclaimed angrily. "Driver! Stop this car!"

"No can do, miss. I'm under orders to allow no stops until we reach the cabin." The driver said cheerfully and he pressed a button to close up the window between them. Sesshoumaru jabbed at the button that would lower the window but it gave no response. That sneaky, conniving idiot! So this was his plan all along. If he couldn't coerce the two to skate together, he would force them!

"That sneaky conniving idiot!" Kagome said aloud and Sesshoumaru almost did a double take at Kagome's identical reaction. Her sapphire eyes burned and for a brief moment, he saw the same passionate fire from that night. She felt his gaze and she turned to meet him eye to eye. His throat filled with an unacquainted need to speak, but she only gave him a scornful look and quickly turned her head to look at the swiftly passing scenery. Minutes stretched by so slowly that Sesshoumaru felt like an eternity had already passed them by. That he, the Sesshoumaru, could feel discomfort from a human being was only adding to the ever growing list of new emotions he had just begun to feel. It never used to be difficult to ignore anybody below his interest. Yet, it was challenging just to keep his eyes from looking at the quiet and calm figure beside him. Most girls would have begun to nervously fidget in his presence or blabber endlessly on the most idiotic nonsense. Yes…most girls would…

"I just want to get a few things made clear during this so called "excursion" of ours." She said, her low voice filling the car. She was actually quite pleasing to listen to; compared to the shrill cacophony he had endured in the past. He almost shook himself of that uncharacteristic thought but restrained the action, barely.

"Excursion?" He commented with amusement. He fought down a smile at the slight blush that warmed up her stoic face.

"You will respect my privacy. If I want to skate alone, I WILL skate alone." She snapped at him, half in anger at him and half at herself. Was he deliberately trying to make a fool of her? "You will not force me to skate with you because I have no intention in continuing our sham of a partnership. You will knock at my door if you require my attention. You will keep all sarcastic and unhelpful comments to yourself. You will- you will…" Kagome stuttered, losing her steam. Why couldn't she stay angry at him?

"A few things, you say? Is that all?" He said. He abruptly shut his mouth, did he just tease her then? She looked at him oddly for a second and he felt an uncomfortable heat flare on his cheeks. Her face broke out in a grin and she tried to contain her laughter but gave up after a few seconds. The strange heat in his cheeks died away and now all he could feel was humiliation. She was laughing at him…at the Taiyoukai Sesshoumaru. There was something inhumanely wrong with this girl.

"So you _are_ human after all!" She said between her bursts of laughter. "That's the first time I've seen you blush!"

"A blush?" He said in stark disbelief. Impossible, he could never blush. A blush meant embarrassment, and he was never embarrassed, therefore it couldn't be a blush. A past lesson from his philosophy teacher came back to him: if A equals B and B equals C, then A equals C… Why in the world was his mind going off on a random tangent? "Impossible." He said aloud with wavering certainty.

Her laughter grew even louder and she held her sides in pain. "Stop, oh stop, I can't take it anymore!"

He turned his head away from her but his ears could still hear her bell like laughter. There was a strange calmness in hearing her laugh and for a brief moment he felt comfortable with his bizarre behavior if it could create such easy happiness for her. He shut down his thoughts completely. The situation had reversed and now he was the sullen one looking out at the passing scenery in gloom while her occasional giggles filled the air.

* * *

It was the smallest cabin he had ever seen. For being the owner of an extremely prosperous ice rink, Miroku had chosen the tiniest cabin in the valley. The two stood, staring at the minuscule cabin, half in wonder and half in shock. The driver made good use of this time to drop off the luggage and speed away. Sesshoumaru was the first one to break out of his trance and he calmly picked up his luggage. Without waiting for her, he stepped into the house. He froze again and took a step forward when Kagome ran into him from behind. She was protesting when he felt her freeze as well. It was a honeymoon getaway cabin, literally. Except for the bathroom, the whole cabin was just one room. The kitchen and bedroom were connected so that neither person could escape from each other and Sesshoumaru didn't even have to look to know that there would be only one mattress, one blanket, and one pillow for the two of them.

"Oh my god…" Kagome breathed out as she surveyed their home for the next three days. "That son of a gun, I'm going to KILL him, I'm going to slaughter him, I'm going to castrate him-"

"Nothing you say will change the fact that we're stuck here. I doubt that our cell phones will have reception up in the mountains and Miroku" he twitched, "probably didn't leave a phone either." He said as he picked up his suitcase and set it down a few feet away.

"What are we going to do if there's an emergency!" Kagome exclaimed as she still stood where she was.

"I assume that Miroku believes that I will be able to handle whatever happens here." He said smoothly as he got his skates out. He had seen an immense pond behind the cabin and with them stranded here with no other form of entertainment, practice it was. He was wrapping a scarf around his neck for warmth when Kagome finally decided to give in and put down her suitcase as well. She placed it as far away from him as she could and opened it. She took out a pair of worn skates and placed it lovingly off to the side.

"I'm going to take a bath." She declared while creating a bundle of toiletries.

"Have fun with the mountain lions out there." He said as he slung his skates over his soldiers. She flinched, and then threw her bundle into her suitcase, taking out a scarf and a pair of gloves. She brushed past him and he unknowingly gave a smile while following her to the ice pond.

"Wow" She said as she viewed the pond. It was enormous and probably hand built so that it was a perfect ellipse. Miroku had even gone so far as to add a covered shelter with benches and modern lights all around the rink for night skating. She sat on the bench and pulled off her snow boots. She slipped on her ice skates and then stepped onto the rink, the calming sensation of skating was already soothing her irritated nerves. She skated around the rink; once, twice, three times. He watched her, waiting for her to begin that captivating skating but she only skated around the rink like one of those annoying talentless ice skaters that flocked to ice rinks for fun. He stepped onto the rink and warmed up his legs with a crossover all around the rink. He passed by her and only saw a look of content on her face. The frustration from before began to fill him as she continued to steadily skate around the rink. His eyes were so eager to see the same passion and beauty from that night but he saw only hesitation each time she passed by him. He stopped in front of her, causing her to stop. She furrowed her stormy blue eyes, already spotting the exasperation in his own icy gold eyes.

"What?" She said coolly.

"Why won't you skate?" He demanded.

"I was skating, if you haven't noticed, at least until you got in my way." She said sarcastically as she tried to skate past him. He blocked her.

"You know what I meant." He said coldly. "There isn't much time till the world championships-"

"Oh! I see!" She got on her tiptoes in a futile attempt to be on par with him. "That's what skating is to you, isn't it? Winning the world championship, being the best of the best, being nummmber 1?"

"Is there something wrong with achieving?" He hissed back at her. "I've worked my entire life towards the world championships and I'm not about to have it taken away because some little girl has stage fright."

"Working your entire life?" She snapped at him. "I pity you if that's what skating ever was! It's no wonder you've been working your entire life!"

"And you think you're any better? You don't let anybody see you skate and you show fear every time somebody is around. You're a coward who's afraid to share your talent with everybody else." He said furiously.

"I don't skate for others, I skate for myself." Kagome said quietly. "And you have no room to say that's selfish because at least I don't flaunt my skills like a circus act."

She skated towards the benches and threw her skates off. She stomped back towards the cabin, anger in every line of her body. He felt like tearing apart the entire forest in fury and spent most of an hour trying to calm himself into his normal disposition. He wanted to stay angry with her, but as time passed by he felt drained and tired. Now he could only see the sorrowful anger in her eyes. Angry at him, angry at his words, always angry.

When he entered the cabin, he found it empty and freezing. That idiot Miroku had even gone so far as to have no modern heating within the cabin whatsoever, forcing its inhabitants to build a fire and huddle together for warmth. The pervert's plans were becoming crystal clear to Sesshoumaru and he muttered a few rare curses as he trampled outside for firewood. The scenery had completely changed; a steady fall of snow had rendered most of the forest a foggy white. He shivered as a gust of wind blew past him, the storm had come quickly, too quickly. He had a feeling Miroku had planned for the storm as well. Where was the blasted girl? She wouldn't be so stupid as to rush off in a huff and get herself lost. He dropped the firewood and ran inside for his scarf and extra jacket.

Yes, she would.

* * *

uh…..yeah, graduation, trip to japan, um, way to many things going on. I managed to get this chapter out, by the skin of my teeth. It's a tad short, and I'm gonna move things a bit quickly because I want this story to be just a few chapters long. Enjoy! And leave a review! A long one! I love long reviews!

Leunra: hahaha, Miroku, that evil pervert. If you can't force them to cooperate, you force them some more. And I shudder to imagine the great Sesshoumaru in one of those tacky ice skating outfits for males. What I have in mind is more manly, and uh, well, it just looks good on him. Glad you like the story!

The Evil Liar: good point, one that will come up in the next chapter (most likely), yes, our Sesshoumaru is indeed a most mysterious person

Burntbanana: yup, I'm just going to move things along, this story is going to be a short one. Short and to the point. If I had less stories, I'd spend some more time on this, but this is just to bent writing frustrations…

Yes: wow, I didn't think this story would have that big of an impact, in fact, I was really not expecting much… but Sesshoumaru in a skating outfit is most amusing

Koorime13: I try to improve my writing, which makes me shun my earlier writing even more. I really really really wish I had the time to go over all my stories and change it so that the writing style isn't so….ugh.

FluffyDemonSheepdog: yay! I love it when I have few grammar and spelling mistakes! Thanks!

Shezel: this chapter wasn't quite as flowy as the first one. The first chapter just poured from my fingers while this one took a bit more thinking. I love modern plots too! It means I don't have to do any research to make sure things are right in my stories that are set in the past.

Anne: ugh, yes, what I've seen of ice skating is a few times on TV, but every time it took my breath away, which was what inspired me to start this story. I'm going to have to look into ice skating some more (uh, when I get the time), meanwhile, I apologize for any other mistakes I have and will make on ice skating.

Kawaiipie007: yeah, I feel so guilty for not updating my other stories, but I refuse to write if I have no inspiration or no clue on what to write… but I intend to write forever.


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